This is the second time I’ve seen Basic Lee, having seen it once back in October 2022 by myself in London. This time, it is now, I am with Alasdair and it’s in Bristol, which is all the more convenient.
Lee is clearly enjoying himself with this show, which is genuinely a delight to see. The stage persona has been growing increasing chinks in the armour over the last few years, and to see him playing with that is fascinating. This show has the most extensive, deliberate crowdwork I’ve seen him do, and he doesn’t even seem to be deliberately throwing it. When someone heckles (trying to be helpful), rather than going nuclear, he integrates it into the bit nicely. Who’d have thunk.
It’s a deceptively intricate show, despite his protestations that this is just a man, a mic, an audience. It obviously thematically all ties together nicely at the end, albeit without any major props or set dressing. It’s very funny, endlessly quotable between me and Alasdair as our lives will stretch out ahead of us, and he promises to return again with a show about being a werewolf, so what more could you ask for?
It turns out the answer to that is for a man in the audience to not call out, literally 30 seconds from the clear end of the show, “Stew! I wondered if you had any thoughts on what’s happening in Palestine?”. Now. I’m as big a proponent of a free Palestine as anyone, but come on. What good do you think that’s going to do? Either he tells you he agrees with your obvious position, and so what, or he doesn’t agree, and so what. It baffles me.
Still, Lee defuses the situation impressively well, dragging out the act of putting in, turning on, and adjusting his hearing aids, before asking the audience member to repeat himself. Inevitably, nothing is forthcoming. He wraps the show up otherwise uninterrupted, before cheerfully retiring to the merch stand where he happily signs stuff for me and Alasdair, has a brief chat, and happily doubles back to allow Alasdair to get a photo. Love to see it.